Climbers, mountaineers and other sports enthusiasts often use shoes specifically designed for heightened traction, such as for “edging” on rock and steep terrain. Rock climbing (including ice-climbing), approach shoes, canyoneering, fly-fishing, river walking, and mountaineering shoes are among the types of shoes for which heightened traction can be important.
Conventional climbing shoes have outsoles and uppers, the external perimeters of which express a round, non-angular curvature. Sometimes there is a rand surrounding a portion of the lower external surface portion of the shoe upper. In the case of such conventional climbing shoes, the entire external perimeter of the outsole and the upper/rand is rounded—that is, there are no flat, or straight-lined edges. FIG. 1a is a bottom view of an exemplary conventional rounded-perimeter outsole 1. Although the particular outline of the footprint of a conventional climbing shoe varies in length, width and curvature according to the size of the particular shoe, such shoes leave a rounded, non-angular footprint similar to the outline of the bottom view of an exemplary conventional outsole as depicted in FIG. 1a. 
FIGS. 1b and 1c are side and top views respectively of an exemplary conventional rounded-perimeter shoe upper 21 and rounded-perimeter shoe rand (sometimes referred to as a “foxing” on some types of shoes) 20. As is depicted in FIGS. 1b and 1c, the rand/foxing 20 is attached to a bottom portion 22 of the shoe upper 21.
Conventional climbing shoes are often made using “lasts” with rounded forefront and heels. A “last” is an object that approximates the dimensions of a human foot of a particular size and shape. A last is used in the shoemaking process as a mold around which the outer shoe is formed. That is, a particular last is used to create the shape of the inside of a shoe of a particular size and shape. Lasts are often made of nylon, aluminum, or wood. FIGS. 2a through 2c depict a three-quarter view, a side view, and a top view, respectively, of an exemplary conventional rounded-perimeter last 130. As depicted in FIGS. 2a through 2c, a conventional last 130 provides a rounded perimeter 131.
In climbing, there are drawbacks to shoes with rounded outsole perimeter curvature. When a climber encounters an edge, the climber needs to maximize the contact surface with the edge. An edge is a climbing surface, often of small dimension, that forms an angle with one or more rock walls. Exemplary edges are depicted in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.
FIG. 3 depicts a top view of an exemplary edge formation 2a formed at an angle with a single rock wall 3. If a climber wearing exemplary conventional climbing shoes with a rounded-perimeter outsole 1 attempted contact with the edge formation 2a, then, as depicted in FIG. 3, only a small contact surface 2b would be formed between a small portion 2d of the rounded outsole 1 that contacts the edge 2a; the rounded upper or rand of the shoe would make contact 2c at only a small portion of the rounded surface of the upper or rand.
FIG. 4 depicts a top view of exemplary edge formations 4a and 4b formed along two opposing rock walls 5 and 6. If a climber wearing exemplary conventional climbing shoes with a rounded-perimeter outsole 1 attempted contact with the edge formations 4a and 4b, then, as depicted in FIG. 4, only small contact surfaces 7a and 7b would be formed between those small portions 7e and 7f respectively of the rounded outsole 1 that make contact with the edges 4a and 4b respectively; the rounded upper or rand of the shoe would make contact 7c and 7d respectively at only small portions of the rounded surface of the upper or rand.
FIG. 5 depicts a top view of an exemplary edge formation 8a formed between two opposing rock walls 5 and 6. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the exemplary edge formation 8 formed between the two opposing rock walls 5 and 6. As depicted in FIG. 5, the rounded outsole 1 makes no contact with the edge 8a; the rounded upper or rand of the shoe would make contact 8b and 8c at only a small portion of the rounded surface of the upper or rand.
The exemplary climbing edges 2a (FIG. 3), 4a-4b (FIG. 4), and 8a (FIG. 5) are depicted as being more or less horizontal with the ground; the rock walls 3 (FIG. 3), and 5 through 6 (FIGS. 4, 5 and 6) are depicted as being more or less perpendicular with the ground. However, that is not always the case. FIGS. 7a and 7b depict side and frontal views respectively of an exemplary edge formation 9 formed between two opposing rock walls 10 and 11 where the intersection 12 of the outer faces of rock walls 10 and 11 forms an obtuse angle with horizontal ground level and where the edge 9 formed between the two rock walls is not horizontal with ground level. In such a case, the rand, or if no rand, the upper, of the shoe of a rock climber attempting to use the edge would have the opportunity to make contact with the rock walls 10 and 11. Just as is the case for a rounded outsole, a rounded rand or upper will make contact with such rock wall surfaces at only a small portion of the rounded surface of the upper or the rand (as depicted above in elements 2c (FIG. 3), 7c and 7d (FIG. 4) and 8b and 8c (FIG. 5). In an angled edge/wall face formation, such as the exemplary formation depicted in FIGS. 7a and 7b, greater rand contact surface would provide increased climbing traction and leverage.
In nature, there are infinite variations of edge formations. It will be understood by someone with ordinary skill in the art that the edges depicted in FIGS. 3 through 7a, and 7b are exemplary for purposes of illustration only. Even if an edge is two or three inches long, a climber wearing shoes having a curved outsole perimeter will often not be able to make contact (such as depicted in FIG. 5), or in some cases, will be able to make only minimal contact (such as depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4), with the particular target edge(s). Surface contact insufficiency is sometimes exacerbated by a tendency of a rounded shoe outsole to curl away from rock wall surfaces, e.g., 5 and 6 as depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5.
Mountain climbing, rock climbing, and similar “extreme sport” athletes perform their sports in dangerous environmental conditions, often thousands of feet above ground level. Maximizing climbing surface contact gives this type of athlete greater safety and performance.
Conventional wisdom in making and fitting rock climbing shoes in order to increase a climber's ability to make greater contact with rock climbing surfaces has been to make the shoe very, very stiff and/or to fit the shoe very, very tight. There are drawbacks to these two approaches. Stiff shoes detract from a climbers' ability to feel rock and rock edges. Tight fitting shoes are painful for the wearer.
A better way is needed to maximize outsole and rand surface contact with climbing edges and rock wall surfaces.